Finding the Truth
by ginnys01
Summary: when Luna gets kidnapped of the Hogwarts Express, things quickly become weird.


**Story Title:** Finding the Truth

**School: **Durmstrang

**Special Rule: **Write a genre you've never written before**:** Mystery

**Theme: 12 **Grimmauld Place - How family politics influence a child

**Main Prompt: **[Character] Pandora Lovegood

**Side Prompt: **[Dialogue] "Sometimes doing the best thing for the one you love means doing nothing at all."

**Side Prompt: **[Song] Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez

**Year: **3

**Word Count: **2128

**Beta(s):** heidlebergchick, KeepSmiling1

* * *

The first thing that Luna noticed was the quiet. Wherever the death eaters had taken her, it wasn't Azkaban or at least not the main part of Azkaban. The second thing Luna noticed was the floor, or better said, the feeling of the floor. The stone floor that Luna had expected to feel wasn't there; instead, she felt a soft comfortable material under her, almost as if she was lying on a bed. As Luna sat up, she noticed that the soft, comfortable feeling of a bed disappeared; instead, where a few moments ago there was softness and warmth, cold and hardness had taken its place. Following the cold, hard stones with her hands, Luna managed to find a wall which she used to get up.

Slowly following the wall, Luna started walking; she wasn't sure what direction to go, but she hoped eventually she'd find something that would help. When Luna finally saw a glimpse of light, she knew that not a lot of time had passed, but it still felt as if it had. As Luna slowly walked towards the light, she noticed that she could see more and more each second, until she finally saw a small door. Moving even closer, Luna realised that the door was made of metal bars, enabling Luna to look through the bars into the hallway.

Even though Luna expected to find the door locked, she tried it anyway. Just as she started to look through the bars into the hallway, hoping for a clue of where she was, she heard voices at the end of the hallway. Quickly darting back to move out of view, Luna tripped over, landing on her back. The pain that Luna expected to feel never came as she landed on the floor which once again felt soft and comfortable until Luna sat up, at which point the floor became hard again. _What was going on? _Sitting against the wall, waiting for the footsteps to pass, Luna could hear parts of the conversation.

"—not allowed to—" said the first voice, in a low tone.

"—cell 13—" replied the second person.

"—Azkaban—" stated the first person.

"—Malfoy—" came the final name that Luna was able to make out from the whole disjointed conversation.

It wasn't until the footsteps had disappeared that Luna dared to move again. Slowly using the wall as a lever, Luna stood up again and started to make her way back to the door.

Just before reaching the door, Luna heard a creak that seemed to vibrate through the room she was in and beyond. Slowly edging her way forward, Luna discovered that the door was now ajar. She placed her hand on the door and opened it carefully so that there was just enough space for her to slip out. Quickly peering around the corner told Luna that the hallway was empty and with a relieved sigh, she pulled the door closed behind her. The corridor seemed to be made out of the same old stone as the room that Luna had just left, and atop of the door that she had just closed stood a roman figure 13. It was only a logical deduction for Luna to assume that the cell 13 that she had overheard, referred to the cell she had been in, which meant she was either in a secluded part of Azkaban or in someone's dungeon. Neither option appealed to Luna, but still, that didn't mean standing in the hallway was the best place to be. Deciding that the light to her left looked slightly brighter as if a door was open ahead, Luna decided to take that route. Keeping to the walls and shadows where possible she slowly started to make her way towards the light; the number 12 on the next door that she passed, giving her confidence that she was going in the right direction.

When Luna finally reached the doorway at the end, with no number, she stopped. Taking a deep breath, she slowly inched forwards keeping her ears open for any voices, she didn't want to get caught now. After what felt like ages of waiting, Luna deciding to move, the risk of getting caught just standing there getting bigger each moment she stayed and if she were to be caught, she would rather be caught trying to escape than get caught just standing around. Not knowing which way to go, Luna decided to take a left and just hope for the best. Once again keeping to the shadows as much as possible Luna started to move.

At first, things went smoothly as Luna made her way through mainly unused hallways, but as Luna reached the top of a seemingly abandoned stairwell, the voices returned louder than before. With the only option for Luna being staying or going back down, she decided to stay put and hope for the best. She continued listening at the door, waiting for the voices to leave.

When everything seemed to have quietened down on the other side of the door, Luna slowly reached for the handle to open the door and quickly stuck her head out to check for people passing by, closing it again after her. As hurried footsteps approached from the right, Luna quickly dashed around the corner to her left. Luna started to make her way towards the end of the next corridor, but as she heard footsteps approach from that side too, she had to make a quick dash through the door closest to her, hoping no-one was on the other side.

The room that Luna had entered was a study, the walls on both sides were filled with bookcases that reached up to the ceiling; on the wall at the far side contained a wooden door and a window that filled the rest of the wall and just in front of the window stood a desk with chairs on either side. Thankfully, nobody was in the room at the time, and Luna released the breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. The relief she had felt for finding the room empty only lasted a few seconds as the door handle started to move downwards.

Luna quickly darted through the door on the other side of the room, only to come to a stop as she realised that she was now stuck in a cupboard. Before she could do anything more, she heard the door to the study open and two voices started to speak.

"Quick, get inside! What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous this is?"

Luna was sure that the voice belonged to Lucius Malfoy, but who was he talking to?

"Yes, I know. But I had to come! How could you do this to me, Lucius? You promised to protect her!"

The voice was definitely female, but who were they talking about?

"Why do you think she's here and not in Azkaban? I can't protect her in Azkaban!" reasoned Lucius.

"So, what, putting her in the cellars in this house was a better idea?" cried the woman.

"Yes!" came the irate reply.

"Lucius, you promised to keep her safe. It's the only reason why I left seven years ago," a hint of fear entered the woman's voice.

"And you should have left sooner! You were nearly caught! If you had left sooner, you could have just disappeared, and your daughter could have known that you were still alive!" Lucius was clearly angry at the woman's past choices.

"It was too dangerous, you know that. They could have used her against me." Her tone was low but still rang with truth.

"And they still can, which is why you have to leave," insisted Lucius.

"Which is why she shouldn't be kept in this house!" cried the lady.

"Dora, this is my house; this is where I have the most control. It's the only place where I stand a chance at keeping her safe." His words sounded tired like he was fighting an uphill battle.

"Safe? This place is full of death-eaters!" she exclaimed.

"Don't you think I know that? There is nothing I can do about that," he retorted.

"When you came to me for help, you promised you had changed!" Luna could practically see her pointing a finger accusingly at Lucius.

"And you know that I can't just walk away and leave my wife and son!" his words held a finality, and the woman knew that was where he drew the line.

The voices which had become louder and louder during the conversation stopped. It had become so quiet that Luna was afraid to breathe, scared that they may have noticed that she was there. She only felt safe enough when she heard Lucius speak softly. "Dora, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Luna heard some walking around before she heard Lucius speak again. "I promise she's safe."

"I've heard she's in cell 13?" apprehension was now evident in the woman's words.

Cell 13? That was the cell that Luna had been in; had there been someone else in there with her that she hadn't noticed? Had she relocked someone in there when she closed the door on her way out?

"Yes, no-one knows that the cells used to be lettered and that used to be cell M," replied Lucius

"So she has some comfort and can get out if needed."

Luna could almost hear the relief in the woman's voice, and even though it hadn't been phrased as a question, Luna still heard Lucius answer.

"Just a bit of blood on the right spot and she's out. Don't worry, I'll take care of your girl; she is my niece, after all. But you have to go." Lucius started to sound more worried.

"I'm sorry, I've not seen her since that day. It's hard not being able to be there for her. I keep wondering what she's like." Luna couldn't decide if the woman felt guilty or excited.

"She is exactly like you. She is passionate about her friends, smart, and keeps getting into trouble. Have you heard yet that she broke into Snape's office?" Luna could imagine Lucius grinning.

Broke into Snape's office? Were they talking about her? The only people stupid enough to break into Snape's office had been her, Ginny, and Neville. So if they weren't talking about one of them, they had to be talking about her. But why would Lucius and an unknown woman be talking about her? Luna ignored the two people in the room next to her while her mind went over the conversation she had heard. She was in Malfoy Manor where she had been put in cell 13, which apparently was done on purpose and used to be cell M, which enabled her to escape. Why would Malfoy put her in a cell where he knew she would escape? It wasn't until the voices lowered again that Luna remembered where she was.

"Sometimes doing the best thing for the one you love means doing nothing at all." Lucius' words were so quiet, Luna almost missed them.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's hard." the woman seemed to be composing herself, despite how upset she was.

The one you love? Where they still talking about her? Then she heard Lucius continue, "I know, but you said you were nearly there. We only need to keep this act going for a little longer. You go back to your research and I'll go back to pretending that I'm the perfect death-eater. As soon as you complete your research this will be over."

Luna heard the door on the far side of the room open, but then heard it shut almost immediately. Not being sure if the room was empty or not, she decided to stay put for a bit longer. She probably wasn't in the best state to go looking for the exit anyway. She had just discovered that Lucius, someone who she had always thought of as a death-eater, was putting on an act and that he had been looking out for her; all because of a mystery woman named Dora.

After what felt like ages listening at the door for a sound, Luna decided that she would have to risk it. Quietly opening the door, Luna looked out into the room only to see an older version of herself sitting in one of the chairs.

At the sight of Luna, the woman's face showed increasing horror, no doubt at being discovered. All the facts seemed to suddenly click into place: the woman named Dora, disappearing seven years ago, and the allusions to her. There was no doubt about who this person was, and Luna gasped in a shocked tone, the only word that came to mind.

"Mummy?"


End file.
